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Saturday, May 9, 2009

Day 2 : wild thang

The second day was much like the first day, in that, it was a gorgeous day. Sunny and warm, birds singing, a nice breeze blowing. I went to the barn to begin the second day with my lil mare. My reception was not as welcoming as I had hoped. She seemingly had ill feelings about the goings on the day before. She pinned her ears back as I walked into the stall to snap the lead on her halter. Yep, she was still pissed about her new situation. She never did "hook up" with me the day before, so she was still in the mind set that she was tolerating me being in her world. Well, I got news for her. The times they are a changin'. So she better just get over it. We are gonna be friends whether she realises it now or not. Cause I tend to grow on ya over time, like moss on a shady rock. I knew, the moment I scratched her under her chin for the first time the day before, that she would eventually come around to the notion that I wasn't so bad after all. This day went much like the previous day, in that, we just repeated everything we had done already. That's the key ya see. Repetition. Practice makes perfect and so on and so on. And too, with horses everything you do on one side you have to repeat on the other side. They are what ya call two sided animals. If they get used to you petting them on the right side of their neck, you have to get them used to petting the left side also. It doesn't just follow through to the other side automatically. A good part of the day was dedicated to what is called "sacking out". Which involves waving around a feed sack or anything else that might frighten them. And yielding to pressure, which means to move away from different types of pressure. By either physical pressure on their body in certain areas or regions, or moving them with body language. She did really well after she got over the initial ill mood she had when I first got there. Everything went smoothly and calmly. Almost too easily it seemed. I don't want to push her too quickly nor make any mistakes because I want her to learn well. I'm just incredibly excited to finally be able to, and have something to, ride again. I lost both of by boys a few years ago all in the same summer. My 30 year old Appaloosa gelding to old age, and my almost 6 year old Mustang stud to colic. Damn, that sucked. What a blow. I miss them terribly but now, there is new hope and dreams. This lil mare is out of my Mustang stud and my sisters Quarter Horse mare (Which also died a year or so ago of old age). So, it stands without saying that the past few years for me have not been the greatest for horses. This is why I am so excited to have this new beginning a new start with a horse to ride. Not being able to like like I used to has been really hard for me, it's like a part of me had died with my boys.